BTW, it does have more ground clearance than the Camary & is longer as well. Mid 6 secs to 60 as well which is pretty good for a 4000+ lbs vehicle.

Powered rear hatch that's fun to play with - although I wonder about using it at -30 degrees in the winter.

Two sunroofs too. The Info Screen is too small & useless in bright sunlight - do they not test these things out??

Interestingly, my XM/Sirius Radio still operates after almost 2 years when I've never paid a subscription. I rarely listen to it anyway here as it continually breaks lock due to the tall trees here & mountainous terrain. Too far north for reliable sat reception I guess.

Subarus are a non-starter. Every time I ask Mrs. Tuttle about them, she says "did I become a lesbian?" to which I enthusiastically say "it does not seem so". Pity. About the Subaru, I mean.

I like the looks of the Mazda CX-9 and Volvo XC90 (I still haven't gotten over the seats in the S60 I didn't buy. Dreamy).

What say you?

You and your "budgets" Tom. Meh, you have a benz, suck it up and buy what you want.

Good for the misses, Subarus irritate me. 9 out of 10 Subaru drivers should not have a licence from what I've seen the past thirty years living where it does snow. I do my best to stay clear of any Subaru I see on the road. The type of people that buy them are afraid of poor road conditions because they can't drive, so they buy a Subaru thinking it will magically save them.

I love Volvo seats.

My misses needs a new SUV too. I've been looking into them a bit. Will probably buy a Euro model. Deliberating between the Volvo X60, BMW 5X or VW Touareg. Ya I know, no help to you at all.

Linda just got rid of her '98 CRV with 250km on it and replaced it with a low mile '11 CRV. We checked out the RAV4's which are equally as good as the CRV, by most accounts, but in the end we thought the Honda looked and rode better and the safety rating and resale appeared to be better as well.

The Venza is a nice looking vehicle but I was a little surprised to see more reliability concerns on it than the RAV4's which use the same motors. Maybe it's just because they needed to work the bugs out, or due to the Camry chasis idunno.

If the CRV or RAV4 are large enough for your purpose Tom, I'd have those at the top of my list.

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Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.

I have two friends that have the Touareg, diesel engines in both. Very nice rigs, dependable, outstanding in the snow and ice. You can get them with every option for about 50K. Probably the best bargain around in this category. I suspect a person could find one used for considerably less. The BMW is pissing me off. They have so many freaking options for the X5, that by the time you figure out what you would like, you are looking at 75K. I probably will not buy one. I really like the new Range Rover Evoque, but Land Rover does not have dealers in Alaska.

I think Infiniti makes some pretty killer cars.

The new Dodge Darango is pretty nice, as well as the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. They both have a strong Mercedees Benz influence.

The new Dodge Durango is pretty nice, as well as the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. They both have a strong Mercedes Benz influence.

I'm pretty sure my next car is going to be an Infiniti G35/G37 convertible. Somewhere, Ray3 is waking up at the mention of his beloved Infiniti. For now, though, my 2001 Maxima refuses to give up the ghost, so I'm happily enjoying it and the BOSE audio, ha.

My Mom has had two Durangos and has been a Dodge person ever since she got a Coachmen-modified van new in 1975 that we used for camping and vacations all through my childhood.

I was wondering about the new Durango, which they billed as autobahn-tuned, etc from their brief marriage to Benz. Mom's latest is still the previous generation.

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"The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever" - Alan Watts